Jon Corzine

Jon Corzine (1 January 1947-) was a US Senator from New Jersey (D) from 3 January 2001 to 17 January 2006, succeeding Frank Lautenberg and preceding Bob Menendez, and Governor of New Jersey from 17 January 2006 to 19 January 2010, succeeding Richard Codey and preceding Chris Christie.

Biography
Jon Corzine was born in Taylorville, Illinois on 1 January 1947, and he served in the US Marine Corps reserve from 1969 to 1975, reaching the rank of Sergeant. He worked as a banker before moving to New Jersey in 1976 to work as a bond trader for Goldman Sachs, serving as the company's CFO from 1991 to 1994 and as a Senior Partner from 1994 to 1999. He oversaw the firm's expansion in Asia and its transformation from a private partnership to a public company. After being forced from Goldman Sachs in January 1999, Corzine ran for the US Senate, and he took office on 3 January 2001. He supported tax breaks to victims of 9/11, citizenship for 9/11 victims who were legal resident aliens, gun control laws, outlawing racial profiling, and subsidies for Amtrak. He voted against the Iraq War, and he also supported tax cuts.

Corzine left office in 2006, when he was elected Governor of New Jersey with 56% of the vote. He declined his salary, but he suffered from low polling numbers due to a state government shutdown the same year as his election, as well as due to his decrease in funding for state universities and colleges. In 2007, he replaced capital punishment with life imprisonment, as New Jersey had not executed any criminals since 1963. He also proposed privatizing the New Jersey Turnpike, which would raise tolls. After a 12 April 2007 car crash nearly killed him, he became an advocate for seatbelt safety. In 2009, he was defeated for re-election by Republican Party candidate Chris Christie, who beat him with 48.5% of the vote to his 44.9%.